Coin-counting machine



Feb. 23, 1954 A. R. BUCHHOLZ 2,669,998

COIN-COUNTING MACHINE Filed April 18, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. @9808 Bud/L013 Fue. BY (7 Qua 2%,, 7 hind ATTORNEYS 1954 A. R. BUCHHOLZ COIN-COUNTING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet Filed April 18, 1951 A-r-ronuors Feb. 23, 1954 Filed April 18, 1951 A. R. BUCHHOLZ COIN-COUNTING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 "ll-I v INVENTOR. M (flaw BY Patented Feb. 23, 195 4 Z,tt9,998

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE v 2,669,998 .JfiiQ'id-QQW M Arnold R.-Buchholz,WatertoWn, assignor to Brandt Automatic. Cashier Company, Watertown, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application-April is, 1951, s ria No. 2215. 09

mitts. (01. 133 -8 The invention relates to 'coin countin'g machines for automatically counting either a'n"unlimited or predetermined number of coins of different denominations. r 5 4 More particularly, the invention relates to that type of coin counting machine in which thecoins are fed into a hopper having-a revolving plate for its bottom by which the coins are fed by centrifugal force toward the periphery of the'hopper which has an opening at one side-formed-inpart by- 'anadjustable gate through which opening coins pass to a-d'ischarge-passage alongwhichthe coins arefed by a feed wheel past a counter opcrating star wheel prior to their discharge from the machine. In the-copending applications Serial No. 115,272,111861 September 12,- 1949, of

Earl W. Quirk and Arnold R.-Buchholz, and Serial No. 181,713, filed August 28-,- fl'.-)50,-of- Arnold R.-Buchholz and William H. Sprenger, there is disclosed a machine of the general type above described in which a continuously rotatable feed wheel is tiltably mounted for movement to a coin feeding position and to an inoperativeposition, the tilting movement being controlled by one revolution actuating mechanism controlled by predetermined -count mechanism, which mechanism is preferably of 'the type shown in U. S. Patent-No. 2,378,828, dated-June 19, 1945, to A. R. Buchholz et al. One of the objects of the present invention-is to provide-improve mentsin the aforementioned applications. One

' of these improvements is a new improved swing- --ing mounting for the coin feedwheelfby which a the shaft for the wheel instead of being mounted to swing only on a medially disposed pivot connectionbetween its mounting and the thickness gauge now swings directly about the outer'end of said gauge, so that the pulley carried byth'e outer end of this shaft is only given a slight-angulax. movement on theswinging of the wheel shaft to .its operative and inoperative positions; so that there is less wear on the drive belt associated with which'holdsthefeed' wheel in its coin feeding position. Inthe present application, the holding latch is connected to'the'predeterminedtcount 'mechanism by' 'a lever and link; thatfis operated ongby the stanwheeldriven shaftat the end'dfa predetermined count to exert a latch-releasing 2 pull on said link, whereas the above referred to applications used a pushing action. It has been found'that the present construction of latch releasemechanism hereinafter described requires less force to release the holding latch.

The invention further consists in the several features hereinafter described and more particularly defined by claims at the conclusion hereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a coin counting machine embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation view of the-machine;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of the ma'- chine looking into itfrom the underside taken generally along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 and with the motor removed;

Fig. 4 is a front elevation view of the machine, parts being broken away and parts being shown in section showing the coin feeding wheel in feeding position;

Fig. 5 is a detailed elevation view of the feed wheel mounting, parts being broken away and partsbeing shown in section;

' Fig. 6-is a detailed vertical sectional view taken on the line 6-45 of Fig. 4; Fig. 7 is a detailed view of parts of the predetermined count mechanism. yReferringto the drawings, as inall machines of thisgeneral type,-a counter It is provided which, as shown in'Fig. 4, carries a bevel gear l l meshing with a bevel gear 12 on an upright counterdrive shaft i3 carrying a coin operated star wheel M, the coins being fed past said wheel M by a feed'wheel It? as they are delivered to the wheel 14 through an adjustable opening at one side of a hopper lfiwhose bottom I1 is a rotary 'plate carried by a vertically disposed shaft 58 suitably journalled in the top plate I9 and carry- "ing a spiral gear 29 meshing with a spiral gear 'modate the thickness of the particular denomination of coin is vertically adjustableby the turriingof a'screw shaft carrying a handleM. "Also in-accordance with known practice, a gauge plate G isslidably mounted relative to the star Wheel It to adjust the width of the passage between the star wheel and plate for the diameter of the I particular denomination of coins being counted and is locked in position by a hand clamp C.

Beyond thewheel' iii, the discharge passageis "farmed by'a' chute 25' which discharges the A in the tit r counted coins into a tube section 25 which has a coin reflector 2? projecting above the outlet of the chute 25. The tubesection 26, as in the aforementioned applications, discharges into a tiltable discharge tube 28 which acts through a plunger therein shown to operate a rock shaft 29, pivoted at 36 and operatively engageable with a lever 3i pivotally connected at Hi?! to a count starting control member 98 hereinafter described, so that either tilting of the tube or a direct movement of the member 98 will start the count.

Referring to Fig. 2, an electric motor. 32 has a pulley 33 mounted on its drive shaft and "condrive shaft 22. The shaft 35 is mounted in a rear P ering and e .fr ht hea g i Unlik h aforementi ned eh io iio as h wn in s. 54 the .5 e r ar h arin 13. is mo ih d in trunh hs wh ch ar ied t e. time of e bracket s. h ed reeth' to t e ckness e uee or state 23-, he om h r ng 4 as sh wn n Fi e. is ve t ca y adiost bly m hhted in a he or a th end. oi one a m. o tilte le e r su p t 45 which is mounted intermediateits ends to'turn about a ivot sheit i eh hor' ii in the, reuse or gate 23 and whose othe' longer arm at itsouter end eonnected with tilting means hereinafter des rib d, By this arra g m Wh h Whee oerryihe end f th s a is lted p n down by ac g o one a m of e tiltable lever support 45 as hereinafter described, the rear hea in t lts about ther letiv y d pivot .sroridesi by the t oh ohe e2.- whioh-ar do e o the mil r 3,? s tha th ph le h sw n through a small arc, and thus the life-of the be t ru ni g ov r this pulle iso h erred since the e-is l ss side ear o the elt. when. t e shaf 36 is'tipped up. n the tiltin oith haf it oh the uho ohe. 42;. or theew he heo h e 45 this shaft is free to slide slightly in itsfront hearing i t eo ineheate" theer iiet mo ment of the te he iiehoo rthe-oiro -ehtiohe i hh ioations. the iroht hearin 4 l. vertically si ehlrrh ihtedi t e her; .44 i rniedae pert oithe suppor a i has eithreede b re en a ed bye manually aoi iete le screw sheit t Journa ist i the. top

of the. DQXJ. othat o v heeha twil m ve the hear hs ii relative tose o su por -s that the sha t .5- may be ti ped li h y relativ tothe rea arin ifito. comp nsate-tor W ar-o t e eoe lee: Theehait s ur ed; h a thum wheel 49 of he lookin ype, that isrit isleneth- W158 moy hlexon the shaft 4.8 and :yieid hgly ur e toward t oxby a spring til-sorbet inoperati e o ition by a e iitehlemoehs W. eh.

as shown h re, the hrine o ahelt tehsiohe oot o the belt i8: and a sprin .5. .1. i ter ose bet een thehox .4 and he late i i- 'tehei her see Fi Zane?) ioeiu es ul ey eheeee hie wit th b t 38. nd ar ed y n 5 ii o i i e i ov wioen. a tir d st e. 5.

oi ei. t a t ee restate aeh r spring 55 wl iiph has the eiiect of'pulling down on thep i e oarry h nd of the shafthlti'i/jhenjper- "mi teol to dose ahd hu with th a d of "the ticularly shown, described, and claimed in the oopendingapplioationSerial No. 181,713, Fig. 4 of this case corresponding to Fig. 5 of that apv plication and being considered suflicient for an understanding of the improvements hereafter described relating to the means for holding the "wheelshaft fifi-and-the wheel [5 in its coin feedi-ngposition and-the release of said holding means at the-end of a predetermined count. Referring to Figs, 3 and 4, the one revolution operating means fortilting the support to feed Wheel operative position includes a cam 51 driven by the shaft 22 through a one revolution clutch 58, a tappetlever 59 and aplunger or tappet means ee iiet d. by t coho c m ri e P of phi-he members and fil working in a guide tube. 62

and operatively connected together by a coiled spring 63, so that the plunger member {i connected by a pintli to theopposite longer end of the lever support 45 from that ofthebearing-dl of the shaft 36, may move relative to the plunger member 60 in casea coin should become jammed between the wheel and the discharge passage. Under these conditions the spring 63 is put under oompre n'be w e t m m er 59 ndtr bl the spring. is only a yielding; take up connection between these members and is not; itself an actuator. Details oi -the clutch 58 and lever-n51!) will be u d in pplication ia to- 1 1;113- T m 51 is loeseon the shaft??? x ep when connected thereto bythe clutch '58, Briefly, the tch 8 has. e o t ol driv iemher ee iixe it the haft 22 and ada te to. en ag a sprins re sed; pawl fifipivoteilly mou ted ne d eleporon 6. oi the-ohm 5 and ea yinga -p, n-68;w h. eh wor s haelot (not sh wn.) thedis1et il-h n th -heme? under th aot on o -i spr n -o mov d nto ope at relation w th. the. toothe mot dr ven mem r -Bathe oam- 5t is-ro te 'h -zeeid memb r 6 -one revo ution and then aid pa l is r leased by a s c ntrolled by th s art ng ooh rol o th p ed termined coun me hah mand-e ti e n-the'pin"fittethrqwth sa ffifi-to; inoperat vepositioh- Th. means ihelu ies he ho d he and-release lever lohpivot- 3.113! a mounted at H on the frameot the. pea-- ohineand biased bya'sp ihs 1:211 toward the disk thro h. the oner oi aeountstarting eent oi mean h reinafter described. the levee 10 is Whhe owardhe ri ht. as-viewed-in- Figs? and a ainst the-acti n oi th sprin 112%. =it-iis r eased from ho d n e ga ement with; th -4111 6.8.- so hat-the spri g 6. then. swin s awl as nlwer lyt its. iutohedposition-With: the rive "membe 6.5 and hen: as-the shaft 212 :QQXltinUKQ to revolve, the cam 51-throueh-thepawl; Be -and "me b r 6. s l t h d etheshait t -aoo ak a i e e lu on: hir ng .wh oh. 5.

th u s hi r oi ti o eweheeeee e roiie 5 h. e t oo t l v r nd swine theeh 59b or Saldlever, engaging plunger part 6.0; up.-

wardly and thus moves the; plungen assembly "in,- iu ihe' the r 6. u wer r ne. tiitethe o Por 45. to br he"e ih' efihe eo 4 Time coin' feeding position, the parts then being in the position shown in Fig. 4. In this feeding position-the parts are held by latching-means forming apart of the present invention which includes a latch member 13 pivotally mounted "at 14 on a part of the tube 62-and working through a slot in said tube and engageable within an annular slot 15 in the plunger part 60; The

freeend of the latch 13 is pivotallyconnected by a pin '18 to a plunger release link 11. Thus the cam 51 through lever 59 moves the plungerpart '68 to a position where it is held by said latch and just before said cam completes its revolution, the pin 68 on the pawl 66 comes into contact with the finger 12 of the release lever 19 which then acts against said pin to push the pawl 66 out of driving contact with the drive member 65 and hold it out of driving position sothat the "cam 51 is released from the clutch 58.

The operation of the clutch control lever 10 revolution clutch 58 is effective to drive the cam ,5'l"at the'start of the countto brin the-feed -'wheell to coin feeding position and to move the latch 173 to a release'position at the end of the count of a predetermined number of coins,

sc -that the'belt tensioner and spring 450. may swing'the shaft 36 and the wheel l5 upwardly to an inope'rtaiv'e position. The predetermined count mechanism shown herein is similar in most respects to the Buchholz etlal. Patent No; 2,378,- 828, but with certain hereinafter described modifications for acting onthelatch 13 at the end of a predetermined counti' So much of this mechanism has been shown as is deemed necessary for an understanding of the present invention, and this may be supplemented, if necessary, by referring to said patent.

As in the aforementioned patent, the number of coins to be counted is determined by the setting of a settable lever 18 of known form having an arm (not shown) adapted to engage a pin 19 on a counter operated ratchet wheel 89, said pin extending through an arcuate slot 8| in frame plate 82. As in the patent, the ratchet wheel 88' is turned in one direction by a spring 83 and in the opposite direction by a single tooth driver member 84 on the inner end of the counter .drive shaft l3 that carries the star wheel M. The wheel 89 is prevented from being turned backwardly by the spring 83 by a holding pawl 85 pivoted at 88. The tooth spacing of the wheel 88 is such that for five coins fed through the discharge passage on each revolution of the star wheel, said wheel 88 is advanced one tooth. For a continuous count, the lever '18 is moved so that the spring 83 may turn the wheel 88 to a position in which its toothed section is out of mesh with the cam or drive member 84. For predetermined counts the lever 18 acts on the pin 19 to set the wheel to a predetermined position, and as shown in Fig. 3, the wheel, which was set for the counting of ten coins, has been moved to a pre-set position as the seventh and eighth coins are counted as described in said patent. In the pre-set position shown, a positioning lever 81 pivoted in the shaft carrying the ratchet wheel 88 has been swung down against the action of a spring 88 by the engagement of a pin 89 on the wheel 88 with said lever 81 so as to bring a three armed lever 98 mounted on the lever 81 into a position in which it may scribed will be effective to disengage the latch 9| as shown in Fig. 3-as the seventh and-eighth coins are counted. Thereafter, the drive member "84 'is turned anti clockwise as viewed in Fig. 3

as the ninth and tenth coinsare fedpast the star wheel and while the lever 81 is in its lowered position. While the tenth coin is passing the and wheel 14, the member 94 comes into engagement with a pin'95 on one of the arms of the three armed lever 98 which is pivotally mounted onthe outer'endof the positioning lever 81 corresponding to'thelever 59 of said patent and swings said lever 99 clockwise, thereby causing a pin 96 on the second arm of said lever 99 working inaslot 85a in the holding pawl 85 to release said pawl and also causing the third arm-"of said lever to exert a pull to the'left'upon the plunger release link 11 which is'pivotally connectew'to *s'aid'th'i rd arm by a pin Na and thus exert a pull on the free end of the latch 13 connected tothe other end of the link 'l'l so as to swing itout' of engagement with the notched slot 15 in-" the plunger part 68 so that the plunger means'previously described is free to return tdits-initiail position under the action of belt tensioners'pr ing 56 andspring 45a and the wheel I'Bis moved to its non-feeding position; As soon astheholding pawl 85 is released the-spring 88 turns the wheel 88 to its initial position to start anothercount. The lever 90, link",- and' latch 73 are biasedtoward a latch engaging position and a holding pawlrelease position by a spring 91 anchored at one end to the tube 62 and connected at its other to the link 11, so that the driver 84 in swinging the lever 90 pulls against the tension of this spring to release said pawl 85 and latch 13.

For starting the operation of the counting mechanism, the re-set or starting count control member 98, similar to the member 99 of the patent is pivoted on a pin 99 mounted on the frame plate 82 and has a hand lever extension 98a to which the link 3|, previously referred to, is pivotally connected at I08, said member 98 being normally urged to an inoperative position by a spring 18]. Member 98, as shown in Fig. 7, has a dog I02 pivotally mounted thereon at I03 which is adapted to engage a pin I84 on a pivoted latch 9|, corresponding to the member 81 of said patent so as to swing said latch out of holding engagement with the lever 81, so that the spring 88 connected to said lever may swing it and the lever 90 back to their initial position in which the latch 9| engaging the shoulder 92 on the lever 81 holds the lever 90 out of engagement with the driver 84 until these parts are again swung down by the pin 89 on the wheel to their lowered position slightly below that shown in Fig. 3, in which the drive member 84 is again effective to turn the ratchet wheel 80 and thereafter move the lever 98 as previously described. In addition to acting as a re-set member for the predetermined count mechanism, said member 98 also has a clutch release member I pivotally connected to it by a pin I88 and provided with a finger or projection I81 which is normally held in an operative position by a spring I88, which member I05 by having said finger I0! engage the finger 12 of the clutch release lever 10, as the control member 98 is operated to start the count, moves said finger 12 out of holding engagement 

